The first-ever Canadian P&G Beauty Awards were held last week in Toronto, celebrating both established and up-and-coming talent in the fashion and beauty media industry in Canada.

Winners of the night included Reader’s Digest‘s Best Health (Best Beauty Editor of a Magazine, Best Beauty Feature of a Magazine or Newspaper), Fashion (Best Magazine Cover) and Sharp (Best Male Grooming Feature).

The awards have been held in the UK for five years now, and have been so successful that Procter & Gamble decided to bring them to Canada this year, Danielle Bibas, P&G Beauty and Grooming general manager, Canada, told MiC.

‘I think after a year where the industry has gone through such a difficult moment – a lot of publications closing, a lot of our colleagues having moved on or lost their jobs – we thought it was very appropriate to bring this to Canada, to bring some celebration to the industry,’ she said. ‘There’s a second reason [also]: the awards help foster and shine a light on new talent in the industry.’

P&G Beauty has worked hard to define its beauty brands in recent years, reaching out to magazine editors to ensure its products are included in editorial pages alongside ultra-premium brands such as Chanel. Media is an important element of P&G’s brand strategy, and the company wanted to give something back to the industry that has been instrumental in its success, Bibas added.

‘I think [the event] puts P&G front and centre as a manufacturer and a company that is interested in raising the bar within the industry. There’s so much always going on in the beauty industry when you look at new products launched, innovation and new ingredients discovered. Our base is product innovation: we need the editors, we need the media industry to communicate everything that is going on to consumers. It’s very important to us.’

The two-award win for Best Health comes on the heels of a hot year for the magazine, which posted a healthy annual ad revenue and partnered with Sympatico.ca on a new health and wellness section.